Latest Updates

• Monday, August 3 2020 at 12:56 PM

  Dear Parents,

  I am writing to further update you on our plans for reopening for the academic year 2020-21. We want to provide as much clarity as we can, so you can plan ahead, which is why this is a rather long communication.

  This is the current situation: we have applied to the highest levels of government to be empowered to make independent decisions about reopening our campus to students. We understand that our application is being assessed. We do not have a formal response at this point.

  As many of you may know, there is a national debate on the reopening of school in Romania – how to do it, when to do it and whether to give autonomy to individual districts and schools. Officially, all schools are closed until the beginning of the Romanian school year on September 14. The government has stated that it will make decisions and articulate guidelines at the end of August.

  All of us at AISB want to welcome students to campus as soon we have approval and it is safe to do so. While we will continue to deliver a high-quality distance learning programme, we understand that our students need to be back together with each other and their teachers for their well being and their learning. We miss our students.

  Our Roadmap for August and September

  This is our roadmap for the weeks ahead, based on the current situation:

  • We will open the year on Tuesday 18 August as planned using Distance Learning. Before this online restart, we will communicate with you:
    • How students can collect the learning resources they will need from campus
    • Our updated Distance Learning Programme for the first weeks of school
  • For our new families, we will do an online orientation programme for Secondary students on Friday, 14th August and for ELC and Elementary students on Monday 17 August.
  • As soon as we have authorisation and it is safe to do so, we will transition to the Adapted Model of learning, described in our Reopening Plan. Currently, we are targeting September 14th as the date that we will move to this model. The Adapted Model provides a balanced approach between face-to-face on-campus learning with some continued distance learning. It is based on our 7 Principles of Wellbeing as described in the Reopening Plan in particular, carefully limiting student group size and the mixing of students across groups and grades.
  • Before September 14, we will continue rigorously preparing for the complex logistics of opening our campus to students. We continue upgrading our health infrastructure, which includes new thermo-scanners, COVID signage, a medical isolation room and more handwashing and disinfection stations. In addition, we are exploring the practicalities and effectiveness of COVID testing to keep our community safe.
  • The rate of COVID infection in Romania continues to be concerning. We will monitor the local health situation carefully and make a final decision to open the campus to students if we judge that it is safe to do so. When the Romanian authorities publish their guidelines for schools, we will update the Reopening Plan if necessary, to respond to the local evolution of COVID. We will explain any changes that we make and continue to answer your questions.

  Listening to You

  There was an excellent 80% response rate to the July parent survey. Thank you. From those who responded, we learned that 87% of our students would be able to attend school from August 18 having followed self-isolation protocols as required. Parents representing 73% of the  sample are comfortable sending their children to school in the current health situation. These statistics did not vary significantly across the age range. There were many individual comments from parents noting that they may change their viewpoint based on how the pandemic evolves in the weeks ahead. There continues to be a range of parent views on the severity and risks of this COVID-19 pandemic.

  It is the school’s responsibility to make decisions based on the best available evidence. The decisions that we make will prioritise the safety of our community given the seriousness of the health risks. When we open our doors, we will do everything we can to reassure families that remain anxious. If parents would still prefer a continued distance learning option, we will do our best to accommodate these requests in a way that our professional team can manage reasonably. If we ‘livestream’ a classroom, for example, then students can participate from home. However, this solution has several technical issues and works better for older students who are more independent. This is just one of the operational complexities that all schools will be seeking to manage in the year ahead.

  Faculty Orientation

  Our professional team has responded magnificently to these unusual times. For our students to feel safe, happy and supported at school, our staff and teachers have to feel the same things. It is our teachers who need to project positive energy and care for our students that will sustain them.

  Given the complications of world travel presently, I am pleased to share that by mid-August our faculty team will be here in Bucharest and ready to go. We have welcomed an excellent new faculty group from overseas, many of whom have braved multiple flight cancellations and quarantine periods on the way. They are a resilient and optimistic group who are very much looking forward to meeting our students.

  In the first weeks of August, the faculty will prioritise conversations about the social and emotional care of our students, the enhancements we want to make to our Distance Learning programme and how we get ready to deliver the Adapted Model of learning.

  What We Can Learn from Around the World About Reopening Schools
  
  In closing, I want to briefly share what we are learning from schools that have reopened during this pandemic across the world. Scientific studies are still preliminary, and, in some cases, the results are not aligned. We know that some countries that have managed a phased reopening process very well, such as Norway and Denmark. In these societies, reopening schools did not generally affect the level of COVID infections. In other countries, such as Israel, the opening of schools caused a spike in new infections, so much so that they had to be closed again. In all these three counties, prior to reopening, the level of COVID infections was relatively low and controlled.

  The emerging science indicates that children under ten years old are less vulnerable to the effects of COVID and that they may not transmit the virus so easily. However, a recent study out of Chicago demonstrated that even young children can carry a high viral load. It seems probable that children over ten can transmit the virus as easily as an adult. Some better news is that trials for vaccines are proceeding faster than was first anticipated.

  Our success as a school this year, more than ever, depends on the actions of our entire community – colleagues, students and parents alike. We all have a personal responsibility to do our part to try to stay healthy and help others stay healthy. If we all commit to doing what is required, at home and school, that will greatly increase the likelihood that our students can spend more time at the campus as opposed to distance learning.

  Please keep safe,

  Peter Welch
  Director

• Tuesday, July 21, 2020 at 01:15 PM

  Dear Parents,

  I hope that wherever this message finds you that you are enjoying your summer. I would like to extend a warm welcome to all the new families joining our school this year. As we navigate these challenging times together, we are here to support you and your children’s successful integration into our community. As promised, I am writing with a mid-summer update on the local situation for opening schools again and AISB’s planning for next year, 2020-21.

  As you will probably know, the COVID-19 infection rate within Romania has continued to climb through the summer. Last week, the local authorities recorded the highest number of daily cases reported since the start of the pandemic (889). The official health data indicates that this daily caseload will continue to increase through to mid-August. According to the official data in Romania, as of July 28, 36,691 cases have been confirmed with 2,009 fatalities. There are currently 4,260 cases that have been diagnosed in Bucharest. On Wednesday, July 15, the government determined to extend the current state of alert in Romania by another 30 days, from July 17, stepping back from further relaxation measures.

  On July 6, Health Minister Nelu Tataru said that a decision on reopening schools would be taken at the end of August. Deputy Prime Minister Raluca Turcan is leading an inter-ministerial working group on school reopening. Initial comments from government sources, reflecting the current high concern over the increasing infection rate, are dampening down expectations for full reopening when the Romanian school year starts on September 14.

  We are in the process of appealing to the government to be empowered to make independent decisions about how and when we open our school. Our appeal is based on our careful reopening planning and our ability to ensure safe and healthy educational practices. Even if we are approved to take independent decisions, we will weigh a decision to reopen for face-to-face lessons very carefully, given the current health situation.

  To help with our planning, I would like to ask for your input. We would like to know two things from all our families. First, it would be helpful to know how many students would be able to attend school from our official first day on Tuesday, August 18. This question is exploring how many families are facing relocation issues and how many families will still need to be in self-isolation at this time having travelled during the summer. Second, we would like to know how many families would be willing to send their children to campus from Tuesday, August 18, given the current health situation in Romania.

  Please take 2 minutes to complete this important survey to help us with our planning. Your input would be greatly appreciated as soon as possible. The survey will be open until Monday 27th July.

  As we think ahead to this next year, while there are optimistic signs about the development of a vaccine, we know that we will be living with this pandemic for some time. Our overriding priority is to keep everyone in our community safe while doing our very best to provide an excellent educational experience online and in-person. We know that we will need to take a flexible and creative approach to do this well.

  Once I have received a decision from the government on whether we can act independently, read your input and consulted with the professional team and the AISB Board, I will communicate our decision on the start of school to you as soon as I am able to in the first week of August and by Tuesday, 4th August at the very latest.

  With best wishes to everyone in our community,

  Peter Welch
  Director

• Friday, May 15, 2020 at 11:15 AM

  Dear Parents,

  With the state of emergency ending today, May 15, and Romania moving to a new state of alert, we can all look forward to more freedom of movement after many long weeks of home isolation. While many of us notice that life is already opening up in Bucharest, and we can see many people wanting to go back to normal, we need to continue to exercise considerable caution in the weeks ahead. As President Iohannis stated, this week, ‘Unfortunately, the COVID-19 epidemic is still among us. This is not the time to relax too much.’
  The President’s statement from earlier this week is here. In this statement, he makes it clear that it is mandatory to wear a mask that covers the mouth and nose when we are indoors in a social situation, such as in a store. It is also mandatory to keep a distance between people of 1.5 meters, which means the distance of two arms. Hand hygiene remains mandatory and is extremely important. We must wash our hands as often as possible and always when we come home from the store or from any activity outside.

  End of Year Processes

  We are organising different online events to celebrate our students at the end of the year. This week’s wonderful online PYP Exhibition for Grade 5 shows showed how great these events can be. As you will have seen, we are offering different transition workshops for our parents. Our teachers and counsellors will put together online events to say goodbye and provide a sense of closure after such a challenging and unusual year.

  We are planning practical solutions for how students and families can, as needed, come in your cars to campus at the end of the year to collect personal items and drop-off school resources. We need to limit the numbers on campus at one time and ensure the safety of everyone. This is obviously a complicated logistical exercise in a community of over one thousand students. We will share a detailed schedule and a flow for parents and students within the next two weeks.

  Planning Ahead – Working Groups

  We have established four different working groups to plan for the reopening of the school in detail.

  Health & Safety Group. This group will design and implement health and safety protocols for when we reopen the school. This team is also looking into investments we will need to make into the health infrastructure of the school, such as in health assessment equipment on arrival, furniture for physical distancing, masks, visors and signage. The key questions are, how do we screen everyone who comes on campus efficiently and reliably? How do we ensure that people who are asymptomatic do not transmit the virus to others on campus?
  Educational Innovation Group. This team is exploring the need to adapt our programme to ensure physical distancing and safe learning next year. It will address daily procedures, schedules and classroom adaptations. We are learning from the experience of other international schools around the world that have been opening up again.
  Social and Emotional Support Group. This group is developing best practice for supporting the well being of our community in respect to transitions, providing closure, coping with anxiety and building resilience. It will also look at the support practices that we will need for next year as well.
  Orientation & Start of the Year Group. This team is exploring how we run our orientation programme for new teachers, for faculty and for students and families next year. It will also plan for the first days of the school year and how we manage all these community-building events.

  The AISB Board will hold a virtual Annual General Meeting on May 27th. If you have not registered for this yet and would like to, please go to this form. The Board will provide an overview of the school’s strategy and financial position. During this meeting, I will address school operational issues and your questions and update you on this planning ahead.

  Last but not least, I would like to thank our tireless PTO for their continued support.  Later today you will receive a message that launches the first even PTO Online Auction to benefit the school scholarship students and the PTO Grants fund. I hope to see many of you there.  Thank you to the PTO and to all of our gracious sponsors for making this possible.

  With best wishes to everyone in our community,

  Peter Welch
  Director

• Thursday, April 28, 2020 at 01:25 PM

  Dear Parents,

  Yesterday, President Iohannis formally announced that schools and universities in Romania will remain closed until the end of this academic year for overriding health reasons during this pandemic. You can read a transcript of his full statement here. This is national policy that our school is required to follow.

  AISB will continue with its distance learning programme until the end of the academic year. As you know, the end of a normal AISB school year is filled with celebratory events and important processes to support students with transitions to new grades or new schools.  Our professional team will now plan for how to provide a sense of closure for them for their learning, and on a practical and personal level.

  The President announced that schools will reopen in September, following the normal academic calendar for Romania. At AISB, we will plan to reopen for our first day of school on August 18 as normal. We will verify if there are any issues with this earlier start from a regulatory point of view and confirm this date as soon as we can. With this time frame, we can ensure that when we reopen the campus we will have the best possible health and safety protocols in place.

  In the days ahead we will share further information about school events for the rest of the year, how we are planning for a healthy, positive start for next year and provide an opportunity for you to ask any questions that you have.

  Peter Welch
  Director

• Sunday, April 26, 2020 at 02:36 PM

  Dear Parents,

  I hope you enjoyed the April break and everybody in your family found time to get offline properly. For some students, having had a few days sleeping in, or having a very different routine, they will need your help to tune back into our Distance Learning Programme. Please talk with them about their schedule for the week. Support them with the process of being on time and re-engaging with their learning tomorrow morning.

  When and How Can We Reopen Schools?

  What we currently know is that we will be continuing with distance learning for at least the next three weeks, until the current State of Emergency in Romania ends. European leaders are thinking through how to reopen their economies and restart society. Romanian leaders are also projecting forward to an easing of the current lock-down, depending on how the rate of infection tracks after the Easter celebrations.

  As of yesterday, April 25, in Romania, 10,635 cases of people infected with COVID-19 have been confirmed. Of the positively confirmed persons, 2,890 have been declared cured and discharged. There have been 575 fatalities as of this morning. Bucharest has 1,150 confirmed cases of the virus.

  When and how schools can re-open in Romania is under discussion. AISB will follow directives from the government, when they come. There are unofficial comments from government ministers that the current school year will be finished in some form, but this ambition needs to be balanced with realism about how we can do this safely. How schools will operate to ensure the health and safety of our communities is a very complex question. You may have seen news reports about schools reopening in China or Denmark and how they are teaching and learning while maintaining ‘social distancing’. Not easy, or normal.

  While the health risks for children being exposed to COVID-19 are extremely low, they can obviously transmit infections to adults within the school community and at home who may be at a higher risk. We need to be particularly mindful of protecting those in our wider community who are over sixty years old, or who have pre-existing health conditions that make them more vulnerable.

  Planning Ahead

  What we are understanding is that we are going to be living with this pandemic for some time to come. All institutions, including schools, are going to have to make some fundamental adaptations to how we operate, likely for much of next year, possibly beyond that time frame.

  The Governor of New York, Andrew Cuomo, has been leading the COVID-19 response at the epicentre of global infections. He has likened this crisis to trying to navigate a river in flood, jumping from rock to rock. As events have moved so fast, leadership is about ensuring that you travel forward and that the next rock is stable enough to stand on without falling in. We can’t look too far ahead because the river will change where the safe rocks are all the time.

  I think this makes sense. This crisis has been a strict teacher for understanding what we can and cannot control. Our intention is to focus on distance learning until we can re-open. We are planning for that reopening to be based on best practices for health and safety and social distancing that we can research and implement. We will give you all the facts that we have about this reopening and our procedures so you can make the best decisions for you and your family. In the next few weeks, after working with the Board of Trustees, I will share our strategic thinking about the adaptations AISB will put into place for next year.

  Parent Talk this Week

  For those who are interested, this week I will be doing an online talk about ‘Learning and the Brain’, discussing insights from neuroscience. This is such a fascinating subject and a practical one, too, particularly at this time when we are all renegotiating how best to deliver effective learning. This talk will take place this coming Thursday, April 30th, at 4.30 pm. Please sign-up for this talk here by the end of Tuesday and I will send you the Zoom meeting details.

  If there is sufficient interest, I can extend to parents the ‘History of Modern Art’ talks that I have been doing online for our professional community. Further details and a sign-up form is here.

  With best wishes to everyone in our community,

  Peter Welch
  Director

• Thursday, April 16, 2020 at 11:56 AM

  Dear Parents,

  As we head into our April break, we hope that everyone in our community can take time to refresh, change routines and renew your energy to see through these most challenging times. There is light on the horizon. While we know that this pandemic will be living with us for some time, the world’s scientists are doing amazing work on a vaccine; European governments are thinking strategically about how we can reopen businesses, and there are positive intentions from the Romanian authorities about schools opening, too.

  The State of Emergency in Romania has now officially been extended, pending confirmation by the legislature. AISB will be closed until Monday, May 18. We fully expect that when schools do get to reopen, there will be clear national guidelines about doing this in ways that minimise ongoing health risks. AISB will, of course, follow these protocols rigorously.

  Update on Health Situation

  The health statistics in Romania have continued to track fairly consistently through the last few days. As of yesterday, April 15, in Romania, 7,216 cases of people infected with COVID-19 have been confirmed. Of the positively confirmed persons, 1,217 have been declared cured and discharged. There have been 372 fatalities as of this morning. Bucharest has 824 confirmed cases. The Health Ministry is projecting that the peak of infection should come in the third week of April, so long as we maintain social distancing through these holidays.

  Family Resources Website

  For the April break, we have built an AISB community website, which is now live here. This is an excellent hub for you to explore different activities for everyone in the family of all ages, including parents. The professional team has spent a great deal of time putting this together. Do check out the co-curricular page as well for coaching videos and other activities. The resources that we have curated are mostly to external organisations that we have used and valued. We are not responsible for the content on these external pages and, as usual, we advise you to monitor your children’s online activity.

  Parent Talks After the Break

  After the break, I will be offering different online talks for AISB parents. My ‘effective learning’ talks were very well-attended in the first semester, which was an excellent indication that there is great interest in how education is changing. On April 30th at 4.30 pm, I will be doing an online talk about ‘Learning and the Brain’, discussing insights from neuroscience. This will extend the thinking we did together in the parent session in the fall. Then, on May 11 at 4.30 pm, I will offer a talk on ‘Raising Culturally Intelligent Children’. We will send details for the Zoom links to join these events after the April break. If there is sufficient interest, I can extend to parents the ‘History of Modern Art’ talks that I have been doing online for our professional community. Further details and a sign-up form is here.

  Being Safe on Zoom

  As you might be aware Zoom, the software we use for videoconferencing with the students, has received a lot of global media attention, first for its exponential success and then for security concerns. Some of the security issues were very real and serious. Zoom quickly implemented enhancements of their application to address these. Our Technology Integrators have continuously updated our software, implemented security upgrades and have held training sessions with our teachers to make sure we remain safe online. We use passwords to protect our meetings, waiting rooms to admit participants and locking functions to restrict access. We have not had any security issues with Zoom as a platform at AISB. If you have any specific concerns about this, please reach out to the Technology Manager, Ms Laura Amza at lamza@goaisb.ro.

  We continue to hope for the best while planning for all eventualities. I hope that during this April break, you can give yourself a breather and be offline as much as possible.

  With very best wishes to everyone in our community,

  Peter Welch
  Director

• Friday, April 10, 2020 at 08:54 PM

  Dear Parents,

  Whether your family celebrates this weekend or next weekend, depending on your church calendar, all of us at AISB would like to wish you Happy Easter. Of course, celebrations will be very different this year, but we hope that for our younger students, the Easter bunny can still move around with such essential annual duties to be performed. We would also like to send our best wishes to our Jewish community with Passover celebrations beginning this week.

  Update on Health Situation

  So far, Romania has been spared the very worst of this pandemic. We hope that people will continue to observe social distancing through the Easter period, which is such an important family time, full of religious and social traditions.

  As of yesterday, April 9, in Romania, 5,202 cases of people infected with COVID-19 have been confirmed. Of the positively confirmed persons, 647 have been declared cured and discharged. There have been 248 fatalities as of this morning. Bucharest has 659 cases, up by 154 from just over one week ago. The most adversely affected area, the Suceava region, has 1487 registered cases.

  Extension of the State of Emergency

  As you may have seen, on Monday, Romanian President Iohannis said in a press conference this is not the time to relax the current restriction of moving outside of our house. He also said that the current state of emergency will be extended by one further month to May 16. We expect this to be officially confirmed next week when the current state of emergency expires. This will mean that schools will also be closed for this period. So AISB, to be confirmed next week, will now be closed until Monday, May 18.

  You may have also read that certain European countries are actively thinking about how to loosen the lockdown over time. Austria, for example, will allow small shops to open after Easter. I do not want to speculate about how this will be handled by the Romanian authorities, but we may expect that different countries will take a stepped approach to lifting restrictions rather than a return to normality overnight. We will be living with this virus for some time and we will all need to guard against a second wave of infections.

  In trying to plan ahead, we are working with multiple scenarios for what might happen next. We understand that there are many different issues that re-opening implies, including important health issues on campus. We will continue to communicate what we know and give you the best answers that we have.

  Resources for Community Activities Website

  For the April break, we are building a community website, which will be full of links to online resources and tips for offline activities for our families. We will centralise and curate the site and divide into age-appropriate categories. We would welcome any recommendations from our parents. If you have a tip for a virtual museum, or an exercise class, sports challenges, art projects, audio-books, or anything fun, please go to this form to let us know.

  Making Cloth Masks – Community Project

  As we know, wearing a face mask while outside is an important way of stopping the spread of COVID-19. As we look ahead to the time when we can open up things again, it seems likely that wearing face masks may be an important and even necessary precaution for some time.

  With this mind, this week I invited everyone in our professional community to contribute to making cloth face masks. Ideally, we should change our mask two or three times during a working day, so we will need a lot of resources. If we over-produce, then fine, we will donate to other communities in need. If any of our parents has the interest or the time to contribute to this community project, please click this link, which sets out some guidelines and tips for making these cloth masks. We would really appreciate your help.

  With very best wishes to everyone in our community,

  Peter Welch
  Director

• Friday, April 3, 2020 at 09:48 PM

  Dear Parents,

  I hope this message at the end of the week finds you, your family and your friends doing as well as you can in these most challenging times. I am writing to update you on some important issues.

  Current Health Situation in Romania

  As of yesterday, April 2, in Romania, 2,738 cases of people infected with COVID-19 have been confirmed. Of the positively confirmed persons, 267 have been declared cured and discharged. There have been 115 fatalities. Yesterday, the Strategic Communication Group released statistics of the county data in Romania (the site is in Romanian but if you right click on it you can easily get the English translation). Bucharest has 505 cases, with 94 people being declared cured. The most adversely affected area, the Suceava region, has 701 registered cases. This area has been quarantined by the authorities.

  There have been new military ordinances this week, but the details of these are less directly relevant to our community, concerning transport restrictions and updating flight restrictions. The Strategic Communications Group in Romania has put together a very helpful set of questions and answers that clarify how the restrictions on movement should be interpreted. The questions concern exercise outside to pet walking, shopping and so on, There are a lot of questions and answers! Even so, I think it is worth taking a look and scanning through to see what may be relevant to you.

  We ask everyone in our community to continue to maintain good habits of ‘social distancing’ so that we ‘flatten the curve’ of infections, minimise further infections and give ourselves the best chance of returning to normal as soon as possible.

  Distance Learning

  We are now at the end of our third week of distance learning. A fellow Head of School has written that it really should be called emergency distance learning because this situation is unprecedented. Much of what we do in schools doesn’t easily translate to online interactions. We are trained to deliver face-to-face education. All of us are learning as we go.

  When I speak with Directors across our CEESA region, we are sharing similar examples of parents feeling stuck at home, and young families with extra pressure because of all that this stage of life brings, cooped up in one space. Our teachers are having to re-imagine their craft, almost on a daily basis. They are also supporting their own families and loved ones around the world.

  We don’t know all the answers. We are continually asking questions ourselves, of each other and of educators and experts around the world. We will continue to understand what is working and what needs changing. I am so grateful for the dedication of our professional team. Thank you to all the community members who have taken the time to say thank you and show support. Thank you for your patience and forbearance. We are in this together.

  Planning Ahead

  Part of what is challenging about the current situation, is that so much is unknown about what happens next. Here’s what we do know:

  • The school is currently scheduled to open after the April break. Given that the pandemic continues to spread in Romania and will not reach its projected peak until mid-April, it seems unlikely that we will be permitted to re-open at that time. We have to follow the mandates from the Romanian authorities and I expect an updated ordinance soon. As soon as we know more, I will let you know.
  • We are thinking about an extended school closure and how we can sustain an effective model of distance learning without exhausting our students, our families and our teachers. The Learning Leadership Team will develop solutions together next week. We absolutely know that you need reliable schedules and for us to continue to engage our students to the end of this closure.
  • During the April break, which is now two weeks away, I want our faculty to have a complete break and get offline as much as possible so that they do not burn out. It is also healthy for your children to be offline as much as possible for that period of time. Currently, we are building a community website with a bank of excellent resources to support you during this holiday, full of activities to do with your children, courses to take, online museums to visit, fitness classes and so on. I know that many of you will already have great resources to recommend and next week we will ask you to share your ideas so we can centralise them for the community.

  For your information the Leadership Team, our Crisis Response Team and the Board of Governors are all beginning to try and wrap their arms around planning issues for all eventualities. Our core intention to support our community through these uncertain times and protect the quality of our school so we will be ready to re-open as soon as we can.

  Best wishes to everyone in our community,

  Peter Welch
  Director

• Wednesday, March 25, 2020 at 10:58 PM

  Dear Parents,

  Yesterday, the Romanian authorities moved from recommending to requiring that movement during daylight hours also be limited to the essential. The intention remains to put limits on people mixing to combat the spread of COVID-19.

  From today, Wednesday 25 March at 12.00, anyone moving outside their residence, if stopped by the authorities, will be required to state the purpose of their travel. Essential activities are as follows:

  1. Moving between home and work, when professional activity is essential.
  2. Specialised medical consultation that cannot be delayed.
  3. Food shopping or purchasing of essential supplies, such as medicine or food for pets.
  4. Travel to provide assistance for the elderly, vulnerable or to accompany children.
  5. Blood donation or humanitarian trips.
  6. A short trip, near the home, for the performance of individual physical activities, or related to the needs of pets.
  7. Travel for agricultural production and distribution.

  For those aged 65 and over, this movement is restricted between the hours of 11.00 and 13.00 for activities 2, 3, 4 and 6.

  For activity 1, please ask your employer for a letter to explain the essential nature of your work. We have provided these letters for essential AISB staff. The letter can be shown on your phone rather than as a hard copy. For all the other activities, you are required to handwrite out a self-declaration letter prior to travelling. This must include the first and last name, date of birth, address of your place of residence, reason and place of travel, date and signature. If you have a medical appointment, it would help to have an email or proof of appointment with you.

  It is sensible to move outside your house with a copy of your Romanian ID and your passport.

  Here are some additional measures that have been confirmed:

  • All people entering into Romania will be quarantined
  • Flights between France and Germany have been suspended for 14 days
  • Shops must have signs that show the appropriate distance between people. Sellers must wear gloves and masks.

  For your reference, the official statement on this change in regulations is here.

  Be safe and be well,

  Peter Welch
  Director

• Monday, March 23, 2020 at 04:30 PM

  Dear Parents,

  As the start of this second full week of distance learning, I would like to provide you with some practical information about the current situation in Romania and some updates from the school.

  Latest Romanian Authorities Measures to Combat COVID-19

  As of last night, new measures were put in place by the authorities to further control social activity and movement. These measures are part of the stepped approach that is being taken by the Romanian authorities to combat the spread of COVID-19. These measures are designed to restrict large groups of people mixing and restrict non-essential social activity and movement.

  The official statement can be read here. The most important to notice are:
  • Romania is closing its borders for Non-Romanians coming into the country. There are some exceptions to this, including all foreigners with work visas and their family dependants.
  • While the government continues to recommend limiting essential movement during the day, during night hours these limits are now going to be enforced. Individuals leaving their homes between 10 pm and 6 am for work will need an official letter from their employer. Individuals moving outside the house for personal reasons, during the same time interval, must carry a personal declaration completed in advance.
  • Malls, shopping centres and other non-essential retail establishments should be closed. Supermarkets, pharmacies, and stores that sell veterinary products will remain open.
  • When people are moving outside their homes, they should not move in groups of more than 3, unless they are members of your household (family members).
  Distance Learning Programme

  We continue to listen to feedback from parents and refine what we do in our DLP programme. The ELC, Elementary and Secondary sections have all provided different feedback mechanisms, parent Zoom sessions and student feedback forms to do this well. Please continue to read communications from the School and take advantage of these opportunities as much as you can.

  Food Delivery Options

  Apart from distance learning, counselling support and our individual discussions with students and parents, we also want to support our community in other ways:
  • The School Cafeteria service, Flavours, will cook and deliver food during lunchtimes for those people living in the local area. Please see details about the menu, how to order, how to pay, food safety and delivery options here.
  • We also would like to support AISB parents and alumni who have food delivery services available through their companies. A list of these services to support can be found here. If you would like to add your delivery company to this list, please contact us.

  With best wishes to everyone in our community,

  Peter Welch
  Director

• Friday, March 20, 2020 at 02:18 PM

  Dear Parents,

  We are all living through strange times. This has been a really challenging week for everyone in our community. I hope that this weekend you will find time to get offline as much as possible and take a break.

  In this new reality, I had a Zoom call with thirty plus school directors all across Europe yesterday, trying to do their best with schools closing everywhere. While different things are happening in different places, we all agreed that this is a really hard time for our parents. You are trying to take care of your friends and families in your home and around the world, while also navigating distance learning, and then juggling working from home and processing the profound consequences of this global reaction to this pandemic. It is easy to feel overwhelmed.

  Our teachers have also had a long week. They are doing their best to deliver distance learning engagingly and effectively. There are things that are going exceptionally well and things that we need to work on. I assure you that we are listening, trying to adapt where we can and improve where we need to. As a community, I hope we can continue to support one another. For our teachers, many of whom are a long way from home, and with many individuals isolated in their house, these are not easy circumstances. I do believe that we will find our new normal in the weeks ahead as we understand the opportunities and limitations of distance learning.

  I am so appreciative of how many people in our community have stepped up with courage and with compassion to support one another. There have been some moments of humour and great creativity, too. I started my day with an online Zumba class with AISB colleagues. And that is a sentence that I thought I would never write! I may be a better person for it. Let’s see how my muscles feel tomorrow.

  As we talked this year about the kind of school that we want to be in the future, many of us spoke about feeling disconnected with one another and technology sometimes getting in the way of authentic human connections. ‘Bring back humanity!’ one student wrote on a sticky note. We are testing these feelings to the maximum right now. If one outcome of all this is that we gain a new, deeper appreciation of the need for human connection and how much we can miss each other, then that, at least, is to be valued.

  Have a good weekend,

  Peter Welch

• Tuesday, March 17, 2020 at 09:08 AM

  Dear Parents,

  As expected, yesterday, Romanian authorities extended school closures through to Easter.
  I want to clarify exactly what this will mean for AISB as there are two different dates for Easter in the Christian calendar.

  AISB will now be closed to the end of the scheduled April break. We will deliver our distance learning programme through to Thursday, 16th April. Then our faculty will take their April break and resume teaching on Monday, 27th April. Of course, we hope that we can resume school properly on that date. We will continue to monitor local and global events carefully and keep you informed if this time frame changes.

  Now we have more certainty on this time frame, we know we have five weeks of distance learning, including this current week. For all of us, responding to fast-moving events will have been very challenging. I hope in the days ahead, we can all settle into our new normal routines. I encourage our community to take breaks when you can, to get offline when you can and find moments to relax.

  Best wishes to everyone in our community,

  Peter Welch

• Sunday, March 15, 2020 at 06:12 PM

  Good Evening,

  In these challenging times, I hope everyone in our community is managing to take care of their family and draw strength from your friendship network. The headlines and the speed of events are concerning for all of us, so I wanted to share an update and give you the best information that we have from the school’s perspective. The message is rather long, but we are aware that there are lots of questions you may have and we want to provide everyone with as much detail as we can. Please take the time to read the message through to the end.

  Global Reaction to COVID-19

  As we can read, across the world there has been a wide range of responses to COVID-19 as it has become a pandemic. Flights are being cancelled, schools are being closed; sports, cultural and social events are on hold, and several countries have declared a national state of emergency, including Romania, as of Monday, March 16. In Romania, this stepped response was likely due to the number of reported cases going above 100. I will explain what this new response may mean in a moment.
  With our social norms and certainties being challenged, it is natural that some people are very anxious. We can all notice how social media can increase these anxieties and has led to some misinformation or exaggerations being passed on. We need to make sure that we are using trusted sources of information as we navigate this together.

  In fact, what we have learned from the experience in China and other Asian countries is that the most effective way of stopping the spread of this virus is to limit person-to-person contact for a period of time. This strategy ‘flattens the curve’ of infections. It limits the number of cases in a region or country, often quite dramatically. The number of cases in China has been falling since the first week in February using this strategy. Relatively speaking in Europe, Romanian authorities acted quickly to take measures to improve this ‘social distancing’.

  This excellent resource was shared by a doctor (and statistician) friend working in the refugee settlements on the border of Thailand and Myanmar. It shows a helpful set of data about what we currently know about COVID-19 and is good for visual learners. One of the key takeaways is that the mortality rate that the Director-General of WHO estimated as between 3 and 4 % of COVID-cases is being reevaluated as lower than this because there are a very large number of infections that are simply not reported or recorded.

  Romanian Reaction to COVID-19

  As of today, there are 139 cases reported in Romania, no deaths and 9 cases reported as cured.

  Here is the situation report from the WHO so you can see how this compares to other countries currently. Generally speaking, the net result of responses from the Romanian authorities have been relatively quick compared to other countries around us. There has been a stepped response, which increased yesterday when the government declared a national emergency. Other countries, such as Hungary and Bulgaria, made a similar declaration yesterday.

  There may be further announcements to clarify exactly what this means for all of us in practical terms, but here is a summary of what we think will happen:

  A national emergency gives governments special powers to tackle a crisis. In this health crisis, the government needs to fast-track decisions to concentrate more resources in the health sector and to manage the social situation effectively to limit further infections.

  So, to be confirmed, this is likely to mean:

  ● Gatherings of above 50 people will be stopped
  ● Workplaces should only have essential staff onsite
  ● Governmental funds are being diverted to support the health service
  ● All leave is being cancelled for doctors, who are going to be operating on shorter shifts
  ● The military and police will be given extra authority to limit travel and ensure law and order is maintained
  ● Non-essential stores are likely to be closed. Food stores will manage the number of people coming in and out to prevent crowding.

  We are waiting to see how these measures will be put into practice. As much as possible, the authorities will ask people to stay at home and limit movement to the essential, such as food shopping. The Romanian Internal Affairs Ministry has posted a Facebook message asking all citizens to stay at home and to protect children by avoiding playgrounds.

  At this stage, we would encourage all of you to be at home as much as possible. I would also encourage you to try and limit play-dates and other social gatherings. If you can practice this social distancing for a two-week period, then you will be able to socialise with others who have kept safe in the same way after that time.

  Distance Learning

  The first day of distance learning went well on Friday with positive participation rates and teachers reporting good buy-in from students. Day two is tomorrow and we will keep learning about what is working and adaptations we need to make. Our teachers really are working hard to deliver a successful programme.
  While there has been no update on the official reopening of schools in Romania, given the pattern of events in Europe, we expect the date to be pushed back from March 22. We will let you know as soon as we know. Some of our international families have travelled back to be with family or to a familiar destination for a sense of comfort at this time. As we think ahead to a school restart, we will plan for all eventualities, including a blended model of in-school and distance learning as families and teachers rejoin our community from international travel.

  Please continue to be in touch with us and ask any questions that you have.
  With best wishes to everyone,

  Peter Welch
  Director

• Thursday, March 12, 2020 at 03:28 PM

  Dear Parents,

  Over the past two days, our professional team has responded magnificently to the challenge of moving to our Distance Learning Programme (DLP). If you visit the school’s dedicated webpage, you will see links to all our resources to support you and your child(ren) need in the days ahead. We are ready to go ahead with this programme tomorrow morning, as promised.

  If you have not had the opportunity already, please read our essential guide for students to learn effectively at home, and for parents to support their learning. This appears in the DLP summary at the top of the DLP webpage.

  From tomorrow, Friday, the school will have only a few staff on campus to maintain essential operations. We will continue to work in our professional teams online. There will be a deep clean of the campus. We will keep updating you on the health situation as it affects the school and let you know about our plans to reopen as soon as we can.

  Thank you for all the messages of support. We already miss not having our students around. All of us at AISB wish you good health, strength, positivity, and safe passage through the days ahead.

  Peter Welch
  Director

• Tuesday, March 10, 2020 at 8:01 AM

  Dear Parents,

  I am able to confirm that AISB will be closed from tomorrow, Wednesday 11th March, until Sunday, 22nd March. This initial school closure measure has been taken as a precaution by the Romanian authorities to combat the spread of COVID-19. It is important to stress that currently there are no reported cases within the AISB community and that this decision has been taken at the national level.

  During this time, the School will move to a Distance Learning Programme (DLP). You can read about the general principles for this programme on the following page. This document includes some important guidance for students and parents, so please take the time to go through this carefully. As a professional team, we will make every effort to ensure that meaningful learning continues throughout this period of closure.

  The AISB faculty and staff will be working for two days on Wednesday and Thursday to prepare for a transition to distance learning and working from home. The Division Principals will soon share detailed documents with information about how the DLP will work for each age group. As explained in the general principles document, I will communicate when the School is ready to deliver our distance learning schedule. All being well, we should start on Friday, 13th March.

  We are mindful of supporting our IB Diploma students, in particular, through this closure. We are in communication with the IB and we are assured that allowances will be made for all students who have had their learning affected by school closures around the world. As we know about the potential impact on examinations and assessment procedures we will let you everything that we know.

  As part of the DLP in Elementary, the School will allow families to use a school-owned technology device during this period of closure. Elementary Grade 1 to 4 parents received a letter yesterday explaining this loan system. If the letter did not reach you, you can access it here. We are also preparing hands-on learning kits. The Elementary Team will be in touch with parents today to explain how these resources can be collected from the School.

  This closure will extend to the cancellation of all school activities on and off-campus. The planned Parent/Teacher/ Student conferences will be re-scheduled and redesigned to fit the distance learning format. We have to cancel the PTO Gala as well. This is very disappointing, of course, and I want to say a heartfelt thank you to all our parents who have put a tremendous amount of work into planning this event. We will be in touch soon to explain what the process will be for redeeming tickets prices, donations and sponsorships.

  Given how quickly events have moved in Romania, please give yourselves time as families to adjust to these new circumstances. We know how disruptive this announcement will be for all our parents in your home and working lives. Do reassure your children that these measures are precautionary only to prevent the spread of this virus.

  Please continue to check your messages from the school. We will communicate with you again soon as we continue to respond to this evolving situation.

  With best wishes to our entire community,

  Peter Welch

  Director

• Wednesday, March 4, 2020 at 2:13 PM

  Dear Parents,

  I am sharing another update about the health situation and how we are managing this at school. As you know, the number of cases within Romania remains three, according to the World Health Organisation yesterday. There is a possible fourth case being reported today. There are no reports of transmission within this country. Here is the link to the latest report from the WHO. Here is a very helpful graphic showing where the current location of coronavirus cases globally are, as well as the CDC risk level for travel to different countries.

  As a School, here is a summary of the actions we have taken to this point:

  We have restricted all student travel to and from the School until May 1.

  Local student field trips in the local area will go ahead on a case-by-case basis informed by our normal risk analysis process. We have restricted all international professional travel for teachers and staff from the School until May 1.

  We are monitoring the travel patterns of all external visitors to our school.

  We are asking all students and family members who have travelled to high-risk countries (as defined by the CDC and Romanian Public Health) to stay home for 14 days.

  We have asked our professional team to limit international and personal travel to the essential as far as possible.

  If your child has been staying at home for the last two weeks because you travelled to an affected area, please inform the medical office staff/principals or the secretary. Prior to returning to classes after 14 days of home isolation, please provide the school with a medical certificate which states that your child is healthy to join the community.

  We continue to work with our entire community on maintaining good hygiene, keeping calm and supporting one another. We continue to focus on the possibility of moving to distance learning in the eventuality that we need to close the School for a period of time. I am pleased to let you know that the collaboration between educators around the world who are sharing expertise and experiences is excellent. We are able to draw on best practice from many international schools who have been doing distance learning for a while.

  All internal school events are continuing as normal. We look forward to the PYP parent conferences next week. The PTO Gala is going ahead unaffected. We have a Basketball All-Team Festival this Friday and Saturday,

  Should we need to change anything in response to the evolving health situation, I will, of course, update you immediately.

  Peter Welch

  Director

• Tuesday, February 25, 2020 at 6:48 PM

  Dear Parents,

  Today, in response to the current NCov-19 (coronavirus) health situation, the Romanian Ministry of Education issued guidelines to limit student travel overseas and limit or suspend the organization of any school or extra-curricular events in which students will be mixing in large groups outside of their community (symposia, conferences, trips, study visits at the local or national level).

  In conversation with our Leadership Team, our Athletics and Activities Department and colleagues in the CEESA region, we have decided to follow these guidelines and limit all non-essential local and overseas student travel to and from AISB. We will follow these guidelines until the health situation in our region is further clarified. This was obviously not an easy decision or one taken lightly because we value these student experiences enormously. However, we must prioritise the safety and well-being of our community above other considerations and stay on the side of appropriate caution.

  CEESA Travel and Hosting

  AISB will not be participating in travel to or hosting the following CEESA events:

  MS Boys Basketball (Hosting) Swimming (Bratislava)

  MS Girls Basketball (Kyiv) HS Girls Basketball (Riga) HS Girls Basketball (Krakow)

  HS Boys Basketball (Istanbul) HS Boys Basketball (Minsk)

  Training for these teams will continue as normal until the end of the season and the coaches will re-focus their squads on other positive outcomes.

  The school will take on any costs associated with these cancellations. Parents who have paid for these trips can process a refund through our cashier’s office.

  Local Sports Tournaments with Bucharest Schools

  The tournaments that we are hosting will be cancelled for the time being and re-scheduled when possible. We will not be participating in any local sports fixtures for the time being.

  Local Field Trips

  Any local field trip which is planned to take students into public situations will be rescheduled as a precautionary measure. Some field trips, such as the Geography DP trip will proceed based on risk assessment criteria such as: location of the trip, mode of transport and interaction with the public.

  Community Events

  We will reschedule the Spin-4-Kids event planned for Saturday, 29th April.

  All internal school events will go ahead as usual unless we inform otherwise.

  Other Activities

  Saturday Instrumental music lessons will continue as normal.

  The Saturday Korean School has been asked not to meet for the required 14-day period of quarantine.

  Please note we are asking all campus visitors, including prospective parents visiting the admissions office, about their travel patterns.

  If you have any questions about sports or activities please refer these to:

  Secondary – David Hughes (dhughes@goaisb.ro) Elementary – Alex Sota (asota@goaisb.ro)

  If you have any questions about field trips, please refer to the divisional principals, Jon Cain, Ely Ruel and Rosella Diliberto. We appreciate your continued understanding as we navigate this health situation as prudently as we can.

• Monday, February 24, 2020 at 6:55 PM

  Dear Parents,

  Thank you for being in touch throughout the day and for sending us information about your situation as well as other updates.

  The safety, health, and well-being of our community is our first priority. Here are some questions and answers about the current situation with NCoV 19 (coronavirus) and how the school is responding:

  What parts of the World are currently affected?

  You can see the latest report from the World Health Organisation here.

  Which parts of the world are we asking families to stay away from school for a 14-day period if they have travelled or transited through them? China

  Japan

  South Korea

  North Italy – Lombardy, Veneto & Piemonte:*

  * These are the only three regions have been declared as impacted. Travel to other parts of Italy is not affected.

  If my family members have travelled through these areas, is there an NCoV 19 test available in Romania to be cleared?

  Unfortunately, there is no rapid test or diagnostic test for coronavirus. If you develop fever and symptoms of respiratory illness (cough, shortness of breath) within 14 days after exposure you should please go to a healthcare provider. The School Doctor recommends referring to Matei Bals Hospital only if the symptoms are present (the diagnosis test cannot be done by request or anywhere else in Bucharest). This hospital is one of the best infectious disease hospitals in Romania.

  If my children are at home, how do I access home learning?

  Please see the email that will be sent home on Tuesday evening from the Principal of each division.

  We understand that some students will be away from school at this time. These absences will be exempt from our attendance policy.

  What specific measures is the school taking to maintain hygiene and safety?

  We continue to remind students to follow proper hand washing techniques. Signs are also around the school as reminders for students and staff. Also, we are encouraging our students to practice good sneezing/cough etiquette.

  The students who are feeling unwell are monitored by the medical office’s staff and sent home according to AISB exclusion criteria.

  Cleaning is an important part of our prevention strategy. We are using high standards of cleanliness according to our internal protocols of thorough cleaning. We have alcohol-based hand sanitizers around the school.

  We are also carefully screening our visitors, including prospective parents visiting the admissions office, to ensure the safety of our students and staff.

  Should students wear face masks?

  CDC and health professionals do not recommend students wear masks to school. The masks may increase the risk of contracting an illness as they may become contaminated.

  Does my child need a medical certificate after staying home for 14 days?

  Yes, we are kindly asking to provide us a medical certificate or clearance to return to school after the quarantine period.

  How does this health situation affect student travel including CEESA events?

  We are in contact with our CEESA family of schools and will keep you updated on scheduled events.

  Thank you for your understanding and support through this challenging situation we are all trying to navigate. We will continue to communicate with you throughout this week.

  Peter Welch

  Director

• Sunday, February 23, 2020 at 7:18 PM

  Dear Parents,

  Further to my previous message, the health situation in Northern Italy (Lombardy & Veneto) has continued to evolve through today, Sunday.

  We are following announcements from the Romanian Ministry of Health as reported in the local English media. Therefore, I want to underline the importance of AISB families who have travelled to or transited through this region during the past two weeks of keeping your children at home for a period of 14 days upon your return. This quarantine period is a precautionary measure to prevent the spread of the nCoV 19 virus (Coronavirus). If your family has travelled to this region, or you have hosted family members or visitors who have travelled there, please keep your children at home for a 14-day period. We will continue to monitor this situation closely and will communicate again this week as the situation develops.

  The School can provide home learning for students for this period as needed. I will be speaking with the Principals this evening about supporting our families with home learning as needed.

  Peter Welch

  Director

• Thursday, February 20, 2020 at 10:45 AM

  Dear Parents,

  As we are getting ready to return from February break, I wanted to send you a reminder of the message received from our Director, Mr. Peter Welch before you left.

  Please take a minute to be reminded of these important health aspects before you return to the school on Monday. Thank you,

  Catalina Gardescu

  ***

  Message from February 13:

  As we approach the February break, many in our community are getting ready to travel overseas. Before this holiday, I wanted to provide an update on our procedures in regard to the ‘Novel Coronavirus’ (nCoV) outbreak.

  We continue to monitor the global situation. No new countries have reported new cases of the virus within the last 24 hours and no confirmed cases in Romania. Fatalities in China have continued to rise with over 1000 now confirmed dead. The rise in infections within China has slowed very recently. There has been only one fatality outside of China.

  The risk of a global pandemic is still real, so we need to continue to be cautious. Non-essential travel to China is being advised against by the World Health Organization and the Centre for Disease Control. The school continues to ask families who travel to China to keep their children at home upon their return for a period of 14 days as a precautionary measure.

   Currently, this is the only country that we are applying this 14-day stay-at-home requirement for travellers. If this situation changes, we will notify the community prior to the re-start of school after the break. To make the determination of the safety of countries for travel we refer to the travel advisories issued by the Centre for Disease Control and the US State Department.

  You can click on any of the links above to find out more about the current situation and any changes with travel advisories. We wish everyone in our community a safe, healthy and happy February break.

  Peter Welch Director

• Thursday, February 13, 2020 at 12:03 PM

  Dear Parents,

  As we approach the February break, many in our community are getting ready to travel overseas. Before this holiday, I wanted to provide an update on our procedures in regard to the ‘Novel Coronavirus’ (nCoV) outbreak.

  We continue to monitor the global situation. No new countries have reported new cases of the virus within the last 24 hours and no confirmed cases in Romania. Fatalities in China have continued to rise with over 1000 now confirmed dead. The rise in infections within China has slowed very recently. There has been only one fatality outside of China.

  The risk of a global pandemic is still real, so we need to continue to be cautious. Non-essential travel to China is being advised against by the World Health Organization and the Centre for Disease Control. The school continues to ask families who travel to China to keep their children at home upon their return for a period of 14 days as a precautionary measure.

   Currently, this is the only country that we are applying this 14-day stay-at-home requirement for travellers. If this situation changes, we will notify the community prior to the re-start of school after the break. To make the determination of the safety of countries for travel we refer to the travel advisories issued by the Centre for Disease Control and the US State Department.

  You can click on any of the links above to find out more about the current situation and any changes with travel advisories. We wish everyone in our community a safe, healthy and happy February break.

  Peter Welch Director

• Wednesday, February 5, 2020 at 2:00 PM

  Dear Parents,

  We continue to monitor the global situation with the spread of coronavirus and stay in close touch with our professional network around the world. You can follow a link to today’s bulletin from the World Health Organization (WHO) here.

  There are still no reported cases of coronavirus in Romania, although there have been 23 countries reporting cases worldwide.

  We think it is appropriate to be cautious in this developing situation. Therefore, we kindly ask that any members of our community who have travelled to China, or have come in contact with people who have returned from this region, to remain out of school for a period of 14 days.

  This is the reported period of time that symptoms of coronavirus may appear. If you develop a fever, cough, sore throat or shortness of breath within 14 days of travel to an affected area, you should call your GP, emergency department and seek medical attention as soon as possible.

  We are mindful with the February break approaching, that our community will be travelling all over the world. We ask all our parents to remain aware of this developing health situation. It is possible that the coronavirus may spread out of China in more significant ways in the days ahead. If you do travel in an area where the virus has spread, we ask you please remain out of school for 14 days from the last point of contact for the benefit of our community.

  The best way to minimise the risk of getting sick with coronavirus is prevention. We should all take reasonable, preventative hygienic measures by a thorough washing of hands with soap and water or an alcohol-based gel. We appreciate your ongoing support as we work through this challenging period.

  Stay well!

  Peter Welch Director